Wide space shingle



Jul 6, 1937. RITTER WIDE SPACE SHINGLE Filed April 13, 1935 INVENTOR Geo/"ye ,e/f/er.

BY A ATTORNEY Patented July 6, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WIDE SPACE SHINGLE George Ritter, Millington, N. J., assignor to The Ruberoid 00., New York, N.

of New Jersey Y., a corporation Application April 13, 1935, Serial No. 16,164

3 Claims.

or siding of pleasing appearance having polygonal through the action of wind or weather; and topatterns; to provide flexible prepared roofing shingles of this type that are interlocking so that when laid the butts or exposed edges are held down securely to prevent curling or bending provide shingles so formed that in laying the-units may be spaced a considerable distance apart, thus requiring less material to cover a given area of roof or wall surface, but with sufficient sidelap on adiacent shingles to prevent leakage and afford a watertight covering.

By reason of the general rectangular contour of my improved shingles, theymay readily be packed in solid rectangular shaped packages convenient to handle and ship. The shape of the shingles eliminates the expense incident to forming and shipping irregularly shaped packages, and avoids any projecting parts, with the consequent danger of breaking or bending the projecting parts in transit.

The shingles notonly form a covering of pleasing appearance, but one which may be easily and expeditiously laid with the use of two nails for each unit. The shingles are designed particularly for-use for reroofing or residing a previously covered roof or siding, but they may also be used as an initial covering.

With these and other objects in view, the invention will appear from the following description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, in which:

' Figure 1 is a plan view of a unit shingle embodying the invention; and

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a plurality of shingles assembled as laid in forming a covering.

The individual or unit shingle I0 is of general rectangular shape, being cut or formed in any manner known to the art, from a rectangular blank, sheet or web of flexible prepared roofing material, or the like. In Figure 1 of the drawing the overall rectangular contour of the blank is shown as completed by the dot-and-dash lines along the lateral edges of the shingle. The dotand-dash lines indicate the portions that are cut out and discarded as waste in manufacture of the shingle. The amount of waste, as will be observed, is relatively small. For example, in a shingle of the form shown having an overall di-.

- mension of 16 x 18 inches, or a total area of 288 square inches of shingle material, the waste due to the cut-outs is only 9.7 square inches, leaving an effective shingle unit having an area of 278.3 square inches. With shingles of this form and size, laid in the manner illustrated in Fig. 2, it requires only 160 square feet of material, including waste, to cover a surface of square feet. It is evident, therefore, that the shingle is economical of material both from the standpoint of the amount of material required in manufacturing the units and in the amount of material required to form a watertight covering of hex-y agonal patterns. I

The straight lower edge or butt ll gle has a locking tab [2 on each corner. The outer side edges l3 of the tabs constitute, in effect, continuations of the lateral edges M of the body of the unit and lie in the same vertical line, so that no part of each tab projects or extends beyond the general rectangular outline of the unit. The tops of the locking tabs are preferably rounded, as shown. The inner edges 15 of the tabs converge downwardly and extend parallel to, but spaced apart from, the lower ends of the downwardly converging lateral edge portions it of the body of the unit so as to provide slots ll between said edges, These slots are preferably somewhat wider than the thickness of the material of which the shingles are made.

A notch or recess I8 is cut in each lateral edge below the transverse axis of the shingle and above the upper end of the downwardly inclined edge I B. Each notch has a horizontal edge or shoulder l9 and an upwardly inclined edge 20 which edge meets the edge l6 and inclines inwardly in the opposite direction but at the same angle as the downward inclination of the edge i6, thus forming an obtuse angle 2|. In the particular shingle illustrated, the edges I6 and 20 form an angle 2| of approximately The method of laying the shingles is clearly indicated in Fig. 2. The shingles of each course are laid spaced apart, such manner of laying being commonly known as the wide-space" method. The spaces between adjacent shingles of each row are spanned by the shingles of the next succeeding row, and the locking tabs of of the shinthe latter shingles are inserted under and enfastened in place with two nails 23, one at each side above the notch. where they will be covered by sidelapping portions of the shingles of the next upper course.

It will be observed that. when so laid in interlocked relation, the edges I61 oi the shingle F.register with the edges 20d and .20e, respectively, of the laterally adiacent shingles D and E of the next lower row or course. This relationship applies throughout the roof and thus a covering is formed composed of hexagonally shaped exposed portions or patterns 24 arranged in staggered order. For example, referring to the hexagonal exposed portion 24 of shingle C, it will be noted that the hexagon 'is defined by the upper horizontal side III, the upper inclined sides Hid-20c and lBe-Zllc} the lower inclined sides l6c20a, and the lower horizontal side He.

The dimensions and proportions of the shingle herein may be varied, and the shape of the lower edge may be modified to provide coverings composedof polygonal shaped figures other than hexagons.

What I claim is:--

1. A flexible prepared roofing shingle of rectangular overall contour adapted to be laid widespaced to form a covering of polygonal patterns of regular shape, said shingle comprising an upper portion having parallel vertical side edges, a lower portion having downwardly converging side edges, a locking tab at each side of the lower end of the lower portion and separated therefrom by a slot whose inner edge is defined by a straight line continuation of the inclined side edge of said lower portion, a shoulder indented at each side intermediate the upper and lower portions, and upwardly converging edges connecting the upper ends of the downwardly converging side edges with the inner ends of the shoulders, the inclination of the upwardly converging edges being the same as that of the downwardly converging edges so that when laid the downwardly converging edges of one shingle will register with the upwardly converging edges of two laterally adjacent shingles, said shingle having parallel upper and lower ends of equal length.

2. A flexible prepared roofing shingle of rectangular overall contour, adapted to be laid wide-spaced to form a covering of hexagonal patterns, said shingle comprising an upper portion having parallel vertical side edges, a lower portion having downwardly converging side edges, 9. locking tab at each side of the lower end of the lower portion, said tabs each having an outer vertical edge in alignment with the vertical side edge of the upper portion and being separated from the lower portion by a slot whose inner edge is defined by a straight line continuation oi the inclined side edge of the lower portion, a shoulder indented at each side intermediate the upper and lower portions, and upwardly converging edges connecting the upper ends or the downwardly converging side edges with the inner edges of the shoulders, the inclination of the upwardly converging edges being the same 'as that of the downwardly converging edges so that when laid the downwardly converging edges of one shingle will register with the upwardly converging edges of two laterally adjacent shingles, said shingle having parallel upper and lower endsof equal length.

3; A flexible prepared roofing shingle o1 rectangular overall contour, adapted to be laid wide-spaced to form a covering of hexagonal patterns, said shingle comprising an upper portion having parallel vertical side edges, a lower portion having downwardly converging side edges, a locking tab at each side of the lower end of the lower portion, said tabs each having a vertical outer edge and an inclined inner edge, the outer edges being in alignment with the vertical side edges of the upper portion and the inner edges being spaced from but parallel to a straight line continuation of the downwardly converging edges of the lower portion, a shoul-' der indented at each side'intermediate the upper and lower portions, and upwardly converging edges connecting the upper ends of the downwardly converging side edges with the inner ends of the shoulders. the inclination of the upwardly converging edges being the same as that of the downwardly converging edges 'so that when laid the downwardly converging edges of one shingle will register with the upwardly converging edges of two laterally adjacent shingles, said shingle having parallel upper and lower ends of equal length.

GEORGE arr-ma. 

